Class Notes

Amanda has been promoted to partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. She helps manage and resolve environmental exposures for companies, and is integral to our crisis management team. She negotiates with federal and state agencies on environmental cleanup and natural resource damages liabilities, and performs due diligence on environmental compliance for transactions. She has helped expand services to firm clients, and is helping pursue business around offshore decommissioning liabilities.

David Conrad, a principal in Fish & Richardson’s Dallas office, has been named a “Lawyer on the Rise” by Texas Lawyer. The award honors Texas’ most promising lawyers under the age of 40 who have wielded influence and are excelling in their practice areas in the Lone Star State. An intellectual property litigator, Conrad, who has in-depth knowledge of computers, software and engineering, represents clients in matters relating to business litigation, patent litigation and trade secret litigation.

Pillsbury lawyer Amanda Halter has been elected to membership in the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation. Fellows of the Foundation are selected for their outstanding professional achievements and their demonstrated commitment to the improvement of the justice system throughout the state of Texas. According to the foundation, Halter’s election is a mark of distinction and a recognition of her contributions to the legal profession. Halter, a counsel in Pillsbury’s Environmental & Natural Resources practice, helps companies resolve environmental liabilities and manage financial and reputational losses associated with a crisis. She is based in Houston.

Ryan Gorsche has been named a Texas Rising Star for 2017 by Super Lawyers. Texas Rising Stars is an annual list of exceptional lawyers in the state who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement, and who are either 40 years old or younger or have been practicing for 10 years or less. This distinction is given to only two percent of young attorneys in Texas.

Mark Dundon has been named a Texas Rising Star for 2017 by Super Lawyers. Texas Rising Stars is an annual list of exceptional lawyers in the state who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement, and who are either 40 years old or younger or have been practicing for 10 years or less. This distinction is given to only two percent of young attorneys in Texas.

Jackson Walker congratulates Brad Nitschke for his selection to the “Texas Super Lawyers – Rising Stars” list by Thomson Reuters. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected to receive this honor. The annual selections are made using a multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive, and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.

Jonathan Pelayo was elected to the partnership of Locke Lord in Houston, Texas, in January 2016. Jonathan serves in the commercial disputes practice group with a focus on construction and oil & gas litigation.

The law firm of Thompson & Knight LLP congratulates Katie Coleman for inclusion in Texas Rising Stars® 2016 by Thomson Reuters. The list will be published in the April 2016 issue of Texas Monthly.

Casey Kaplan, ’07, joined Nike, Inc., in Beaverton, Oregon, as Assistant General Counsel for Litigation and Internal Investigations in the summer of 2015.

Joshua W. Golden, senior counsel with Wilson Cribbs & Goren, PC in Houston, has been board-certified in Commercial Real Estate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization (TBLS).

Andrews Kurth recently announced the election of Brian J. Dillavou to the partnership. He will assume his new position on January 1, 2016.

Nelia Robbi has been named by Texas Lawyer as Appellate Lawyer of The Week (10/22/15) for her work to affirm the personal jurisdiction principle that Texas courts will hear disputes involving nonresidents who fail to provide satisfactory products and services to Texas businesses.